1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electronic safes and an advantageous and simplified design for use of the electronic features thereof, known as a currency keeper.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The electronic safe, often used for small businesses such as convenience stores where a significant portion of the payments are made in cash, provides a means to secure excess sums of cash.
These electronic safes may have one or more bill acceptors that can determine the denomination of bills as they are inserted into the bill acceptors and store those bills in cash cassettes inside the safe. Such electronic safes may also contain a deposit slot to allow envelopes or other payment methods (checks, credit card slips, travelers checks, etc.) to be inserted and securely stored. Use of the bill acceptors to recognize bills also allows the reporting and tracking of cash deposited in the safe.
The electronic safe is able to provide electronic reports detailing entry of cash, person depositing the cash, time of the deposit of the cash into the safe and details of the denomination of the bills. These reports can also be transmitted to a financial institution or 3rd party service.
Traditionally, electronic safes must be placed in close proximity to a point-of-sale system (such as an electronic cash register system) or a dedicated computer with monitor and keyboard, either of which interfaces with the electronic safe and requires direct cabling. The electronic safe is “instructed” by use of the point-of-sale system or computer system.
Another embodiment of the electronic safe is use of a 10-key pad (with numbers 0 through 9) placed directly on the safe, which connects to the aforementioned dedicated computer. The safe can be instructed via use of this 10-digit key pad.
Any of the above interfaces for instructing the safe and/or extracting information from the safe are expensive systems that must be periodically maintained and/or replaced as the items can wear out and/or become obsolete.
Traditional electronic safes also include a locking mechanism which require a special key. This requires that a manager with a key be on premises at all times to facilitate cash pick-ups and access to the safe.